The first non-stop flight between Australia and the UK landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning! Qantas Flight QF9 covered the 14,498km journey from Perth to London in just over 17 hours.
Qantas used the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for this flight, which is twice as fuel-efficient as the older Boeing 747. This initiative is part of Qantas’ ambitious plans to add more ultra long-haul flights to its schedule.
Alan Joyce, the Chief Executive of Qantas, described the new Perth-London service as a “game-changing route.” The historic flight, which carried over 200 passengers and 16 crew members, left Perth at 18:49 local time on Saturday. To help passengers cope with the lengthy travel time, the plane features improved air quality and reduced cabin noise.
This new Perth-London flight is approximately three hours faster than other routes that require stops in the Middle East for plane changes or refueling. According to the International Air Transport Association, this flight is currently the world’s second-longest, just behind Qatar Airways’ route from Doha to Auckland, which is only 31 km longer.